To The Infinity and Beyond
by Novirp13
Summary: Thanos never had a chance. And the story of Tony Stark and his adopted kids has finally reached the end./The continuation of 'Homecoming '/Part 17 of 'Tony Stark Adopted Ghost-Sensitive Kids' series/Part 17 COMPLETE!/THIS SERIES IS COMPLETE!/PLEASE READ THE PREVIOUS STORY ON MY PROFILE
1. Chapter 1

**TO THE INFINITY AND BEYOND**

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**Disclaimer**: Natsume Yuujinchou belongs to Yuki Midorikawa. Fukigen na Mononokean belongs to Kiri Wazawa. Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman. Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Infinity War belongs to Marvel

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**Genre**: Humor and Drama

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**Warning**: **Typo **is my most loyal fan.** Spelling mistakes **because English is not my mother language. Possibly** OOC. Fluff. NOT BETA **so beware of grammar mistakes

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**Summary: **A warning from an unknown 'wizard' prepared them for the incoming war.

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_Are you ready, Harley?_

_I'm _born_ ready_

_Spiderman and …umm...Harley? Would you please tell me what's going to happen—_

_No time, Ms. Everheart! We're going to miss the most intense, most _badass_ fight you'll ever see!_

_And we're going to be the best commentator ever~_

_What are you talking ab—_

_Three, two, one, cameraaaaa…action!_

* * *

"So…let me get this straight…" Tony swirled the ice cubes inside his glass of shining water (not alcohol. He's trying to be a responsible adult here), letting the melodic sounds of a lovely jingle calming his whirring head. One of his eyebrows shot up as he stared at a man with a majestic beard—of course, not as majestic as Tony himself—wearing a wizard-look-alike costume, complete with an elaborate necklace and a red cloak that reached his ankle. He was sitting at the opposite coach of him, putting the translator-earpiece Tony lent on his right ear, he straightened, expression completely calm, "you said a dangerous _alien_ is searching for a stone and is going to destroy the earth along the way?"

"Yes."

"And you know about this because your _other self…"_

"From a different universe."

"From a _different universe_ gave his knowledge to you. In your sleep?"

A nod.

Tony slumped forward and massage the bridge of his nose, deadpanned and weary, "what is my life?"

It happened in the next day after Danny's inauguration as a Ghost King and Peter's Homecoming debacle. FRIDAY informed each of the children in retrospect of the Halfa's order, being that he used his phone to record the mussy stuff between Tony and Peter, informing them of what had happened yesterday night. It didn't take long for the Japanese kids to visit the tower—it's Sunday for them anyway, so no skipping classes—to scolded the brown-haired teen (Takashi and Haruitsuki), fretted over him (Hanae), and smacked his head for a good measure (Ichigo). Clint reasoned, as he watched them squabble from the sideline, that it was partly their fault for contaminating the sweet Petey with their recklessness, especially Takeshi. And the platinum-blonde boy redirected that accusation to Tony, for being the prime example of bad decisions (in a tone full of jest, so the billionaire knew he didn't mean anything of it) he whistled in faux innocence. Bruce laughed at their antics.

It was here, when they were having a fun time chatting with each other in the lobby of the Stark Tower, accompanied by dozens and dozens of pizza boxes and cans full of diet cokes, that the oddity happened.

A portal appeared. It's not Haruitsuki's Mononokean. Nor it's Ichigo's or Kisuke's Senkaimon. It's not even Wulf's famous Ghost Portal. No. This portal is orange and sparkling, like a firework in the middle of a summer festival. The sight of it sent a loud, warning alarm through the back of their mind. A lot of things then occurred at once.

Hanae, who was in the middle of picking up a bottle of orange juice from the fridge, was startled into a shock so bad, he accidentally threw the box to the opening of the portal. Nailing the person who was ready to step inside the tower right on his head. Hanae hid behind Bruce's wide back with a small whimper.

Takeshi hurled Nyanko-sensei to the same portal, causing him to land on the same head also. The cat started nibbling him in aggression.

Ichigo shed his human form and dashed, stopped right in front of the intruder with his Zanpakuto glinted, ready to chop the neck clean if he had to.

Danny transformed into his ghostly form and thrust his hand forward, green aura enveloped the open palm.

Tony called for his armor and Clint unholster his guns, they stood in front of the non-combatant kids.

Haruitsuki went for the door and two fingers stay near his mouth, he was in the middle of calling his trusty youkai for a quick escape route.

And Stephen Vincent Strange—or known as Doctor Strange—could only stand in bewilderment and dripping wet with an orange juice. Confused at the sudden killing intent that shrouded the jovial atmosphere in a mere second.

"It's not like this is your first time facing a world-wide crisis, Tony," Takeshi patted his shoulder in a faux pity, Nyanko-sensei was back on his usual perch.

"We're like…waiting for the other shoe to drop, actually," Danny snickered, still in his ghost form and now was flying by the ceiling, eating the leftover pizza while he swims by.

Stephen took one look at the white-haired Halfa and said, index finger pointed and expression slacked, rather amazed, "so it's true. He's really a ghost."

"Why are you surprised? You're a wizard yourself," Clint chimed in.

"First of all, I'm a sorcerer," he huffed indignantly, "second of all, I'm a doctor first and foremost. This side of mine was just newly discovered one month ago. Even after all the hocus-pocus, I'm still skeptical with any unscientific things," Tony agreed whole-heartedly at that sentiment. Stephen glanced at Ichigo, then swerved his gaze to the Mistress who was hanging around the ex-CEO's neck like a koala, "I need to see the evidence first before I can accept this as my reality. It was not that long ago that I was just a normal human being. Who cannot see a different creature that is invisible to the naked eyes. Bacteria not included."

"You get the Sight after you become a sorcerer, then?" Haruitsuki confirmed. Doctor sharply nodded.

"**You're also the reason why I cannot see the future of this world yesterday night" **The Mistress stated, in a matter of fact. No opening statement, no question mark at the end, the other shivered. It has been a long time since the skeleton lady used that tone—even to a new people Tony brought to his Inner Circle—and they didn't like how oppressing the mood was whenever she _did_ use his Godly voice. Hanae gulped, trying not to look too frightened as her aura reminded him so much with the Executive but twice heavier and scarier.

Stephen bowed in his chair, low and respectful, "my apologize, Mistress. I want to say it's not wholly my fault as _my other self_ is the one who sent his knowledge without my consent. But he's still me. So let me apologized on behalf of everyone involved."

It was silent for a few minutes; Mistress stared at him with an unreadable gaze and Stephen not moving from his position. Tony started to fidget and he moved to dissuade the situation. Before the Goddess smiled and spoke, cutting his intention away with a single wave, **"as you yourself aware, it is not entirely your fault. And **_**the other you **_**know not to share anything regarding the secret of the world. The reason why he still did it even after knowing that, and the reason why you decided to tell us even though you should not, was a clear indication that you cannot regain any modicum of control any longer. The two of **_**you**_** needed to find another alternative. Needed to ask another opinion and give you another idea. So raise your head, Stephen Strange. You have done a great job."**

He looked up and nodded once more. The tenseness on his shoulders—that Tony didn't even notice was there—were now gone. Glad that the God of the Universes didn't punish him after he broke the absolute law. Well, _another Stephen_ did_, _but don't mind the detail.

"So…alien," Bruce piped in, now that the air around them turned back to normal and not choking their respiratory tight anymore, "are you sure about this? Regarding your knowledge from the alternate universe, are you sure you're not a time traveler yourself? And not just receiving a memory of the _other self_?"

What is this, Hermione from Harry Potter Prison of Azkaban? Tony almost snorted at the incredulity.

"No. Because my knowledge and _his_ knowledge clashed with each other. The world from _his_ point of view told me that Avenger was a law-breaker at some point too but they are back in action. A contrasting point from _this_ Avenger in _this_ world," everyone eyebrows furrowed in distaste at that, "Clint Barton is one of them," the archer jolted in surprise. Then it morphed into anger at his _other self_ for even thinking of following that prick of a Captain, "the Tony Stark that _he _knew doesn't have this many children around him. Only Peter as his intern," the said brown-haired kid blinked, "and no power to see the invisible."

"That ruled out the Time Travel theory then," Ichigo hummed. He was still in his Shinigami form, Zanbato rested on his laps. He won't take any chance with this stranger (pun not intended). Especially knowing how his cloak has a mind of his own—Nyanko grumbled incoherently because he was the victim of that cloth; who was trying to save his master from the tubby cat by snatching his tail and threw him away, he landed right at Takashi's embrace. Every single person had their jaws dropped after that little show—and him having information from the future time. Don't even start at how his _other self_ had managed to block the Mistress' vision for a while, something that can only be done if the other God under her wings were stretching their power far enough, it reached the Goddesses realm; must be when the _other_ Stephen transferred his knowledge to _this_ Stephen, the doctor slash sorcerer concluded. So yes. Ichigo _is_ keeping his eyes on him, "what's making the difference, then? I'm not into Sci-Fi movies, I don't know anything about the theory of the universes."

"The catalyst of those differences between _his _world and _our_ world is the presence of The Mistress herself," Stephen answered, their gaze instantly went onto the beautiful skeleton, "she should not be in this realm. Or hanging around a normal human. Or even gave him a Sight to See. But you did. And you have a reason for it."

The Mistress didn't say anything, bony fingers played with the Genius's lock almost soothingly. That did not deter the orange-portal opener as he leaned forward and gaze narrowing.

"Your existence disrupted the balance. And you know that well," Stephen said. Tone was not accusing, but it was near there. His fear of this otherworldly being was stamped down by the anger and betrayal. Of what, Tony was not sure, "because of you, two people that should not be dead are _dead_. Are you sure what you're doing is worth the risk, Mistress?"

_(Ah, now I understand. _Tony crossed his arms in contemplation, watching the Doctor trying to contain his emotion inside but to no avail. It was shimmering down between his clenched fist and trembling grip, the tense shoulders were a clear giveaway also. _He felt betrayed because he tried not to spoil anything, as a Sorcerer that protect the magic side of the world. Yet The Mistress did it anyway. And he felt his work—that he maintained so hard, he even abandoned his job as a Doctor—become nothing but a wasteful chore)_

The Mistress knew that of course, she is. She is a God, for God's sake. And because of that, it was her who bowed this time, startling Stephen from his rant, **"you have my sincerest apologies, Stephen Strange. But you will not have to bear this burden any longer," **she stood with her gown flared majestically, **"because after this, everything will end."**

Everyone held their breath, a halting gasp escaped their thinned lips. They were not used to this side of the Mistress of the Death.

Although it didn't take too much time for it to popped like a deflated balloon when Hanae tilted his head sideways, garnering their attention back to the conversation, "U-Um…Strange-san," the blue-haired teen started with a stutter, "you said before that the Mistress' presence disrupted the balance and killed two people that should've not been dead. W-What do you mean by that?"

Stephen blinked then looked at the Goddess, who waved her hand, a silent gesture of 'go ahead and explain'. Go ahead and explained he did as he started talking, "in _his_ memories, there's a blatant contradictory with what _he _knew and what _I_ knew. We establish the difference already—the Avenger is still active. Barton is not retiring. And Parker is the only kid Tony 'adopted' ("What about Harley? I met him after Killian fiasco", "Unfortunately, I don't know anything that _he_ doesn't know. Maybe _that Stark_ met him, as the event of your disappearance after the bad guys bombed your house happened in _that world_ too, but I'm not entirely sure.", "That_ me_ must've hidden their relationship just like _I_ do, then…") But there's also a big difference besides that," the sorcerer took a sip of his cold tea, "when I said Avenger is still active, it doesn't end there. Wanda, or what you must know as the Scarlet Witch, is also a member of the Avenger."

"What?!" they exclaimed. Ichigo and Clint were very vocal about this.

"Not only that, the reason why _that_ Barton is not retiring from the Avenger business was because he's trying to save the witch," Stephen elaborated, gaze flitted to the shocked SP, "_he_ knew this information from the media, so it's not really clear. But _that_ Clint was very fond of Wanda. The media always saw them together when they were shopping at a mall or taking a walk in the evening."

"What the hell, _me_? Are you stupid?" Clint fell to the couch with a thump, he messed his hair in frustration, "that bitch has a power to semi-brainwash people. How could you even consider her as a friend?"

"Maybe _that's_ the reason why?" Nyanko interjected. At the sight of a cat talking, the cloak fluffed in surprise (_But why? You're basically an anomaly in itself, you did not have a place to get surprised by a talking cat. _Tony silently chided the cloth), "maybe _that witch_ brainwashed _the other_ Clint?"

"What the hell, man?"

"Not only that. You and Stark are not a good friend after the Civil War," Stephen added, "Ross caught you and jailed you for a day, but as always, media work fast."

"….fuck."

"And in _that world_, Agent Coulson did not die," another exclamation rang throughout the room. Again, Clint was very vocal with this, "instead, Pietro—the Witch's older brother—is the one who died. In an event of the siblings' attack, they managed to coax Ultron into joining their cause."

Tony straightened up, eyes wide open, "Ultron?!"

"You know him, Mr. Stark?" Peter blinked.

He nodded, palm started going clammy, "Ultron is one of the names I save for my backup A.I besides FRIDAY and Karen," Tony leveled a glare to Stephen, though it mostly looked like he was begging, "what happened to Ultron in that world? How could he join those two villains? Isn't he my A.I?"

"I'm not very sure. The media didn't cover any of this. What I know is, Ultron—with his metallic body, he was more of a robot than an A.I—was trying to destroy every single human being. Saying that the humans were the sole reason why the world is on the brink of its end. Wanda and Pietro, who was mostly trying to kill you, did not agree with that change of plan. That's why they had a truce with the Avenger and the reason why Pietro dies," doctor said, Tony's shoulders slumped.

"Tony," Takashi frowned, he slapped the back of the brunette's head without remorse. That strike jolted him back to reality and eliciting a childish whine from the billionaire. Takashi ignored it and just went on talking, "it's not your fault."

"But—"

"There must be a reason why Ultron turned evil, sir," JARVIS, who was mostly silent this entire time, finally piped in and consoled the distressed owner. He had been watching from his optic lens at the corner of the room, observing how Tony's heartbeat fluctuating erratically and stress going through the roof, "an A.I may have their own mind and decision. We may learn how to _learn_ ourselves. Yet, the first step of being an A.I is the owner itself. Where you tell us which one is right and which one is wrong. I know you, sir. You're not a bad person. There's no way you created Ultron for the sake of destroying humanity when you yourself became a Hero to _save_ that humanity."

"What he said." Takashi solemnly agreed. Tony's tense countenance relaxed slightly.

"Ah. Speaking about JARVIS," Stephen continued after a second of a silent lull. His hesitation was palpable, causing them to stiffened once more, "this is something _I_ heard from Thor, who heard from Bruce, who heard from Tony ("that's too much in-between, wasn't it?" Danny playfully snarked) But apparently, the reason why Ultron was activated in the first place was that he overwhelmed JARVIS's program. In other words—"

"—_he killed JARVIS"_

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Tony's stomach churned.

_Wh-What?_

_JARVIS….he—_

_He...died?_

His heart started hammering, breath snagged away.

_Does…does that mean _I_ killed JARVIS?_

_With my own invention?_

_With my own hand?_

Orbs widening, pupils slit.

_No. No, that's not true. That's not—_

_JARVIS…JARVIS is here. JARVIS is not _dead.

His lips trembling, teeth chattering.

_He's here. JARVIS is here. He just talked to me. He—_

The Mistress wrapped her bony hands on Tony's neck, he let out a silent gasp. The cold of her being startled him awake from the sudden panic attack _(not again. My invention had almost killed me. My invention had killed Yinsen. Not again. Not again please not again—)_ making him realized that he almost missed the entire conversation. At least his kids didn't notice his behavior, too caught off over the fact that their friend's _other self_ is gone (Haruitsuki had to give Hanae a box of tissue as he just burst into tears and showing no indication to stop at any moment). Except Ichigo, however. Of course, he was. His paranoid-self-because-of-those-accursed-wars taught him to keep a keen eye on his surroundings even when he was having a nice meal or fast asleep. Tony subtly shook his head and Ichigo's posture tensed before he harrumphed. Nevertheless, his blazing orange orbs told him this problem is not over yet, don't try to escape from the incoming lecture.

"…**sacrifice" **Tony heard the end of Mistress' explanation, **"was needed for the sake of maintaining the balance."**

"That's why both Vision _(who_, Tony didn't recognize that name. The orange-haired teen, knowing full well the billionaire had gone to the darkest pit of his head for a split second just now, whispered. Vision was the name his _other self_ gave to the remain of JARVIS; in which the A.I itself managed to salvage by separating his consciousness to the internet. _The other _Tony then uploaded that remains to a new body, for the sake of adding a new member in defeating the evil robot) and Coulson are dead. Or in Vision's case, never been born in this world at all," Stephen clarifies, "because in this world, JARVIS and Pietro are still alive. The world decided to take another person's life as compensation. It was just an unlucky coincidence that Coulson was chosen."

Clint let out a long, exhausted sigh.

"Clint," Tony started, "I—"

"If you blame yourself one more time, Tony. I'm going to use you as my target practice," that harsh reminder clicked his mouth shut, the archer gave him a sad, crooked grin, "I'm not going to get mad at you for saving other people. Besides, as SHIELD, we know we're not going to live that long, the danger came pre-packaged with the boring paperwork and all. Just because you work on the table and inside the safety of a bunker, doesn't mean the danger is less than the field agents. You know how that SHIELD slash HYDRA debacle went," Tony and Haruitsuki winced, "maintaining the balance or not, we're going to die young anyway. So no. It's not—and I repeat, _never—_your fault. Just drop that self-sacrificing ego of yours already. It's _really_ not healthy. Actually…" he swept his gaze to the children available, they backed away, "that goes for you too, kids. My job right now is as a bodyguard, of course, we're going to offer our body as long as our boss is safe. But you guys are still a kid. I don't care if you're semi-superhero or a kid who fought wars back to back, that doesn't mean you have to sacrifices your childhood. Live a little!"

They laughed sheepishly, not wanting to deny it outright yet not easily accepting the suggestion either. Tony could not blame them. Their self-sacrificing habit was too hard to break. It'll be like calling the pot kettle black if he did. Irony within irony.

"So then…what's wrong with it?" Bruce stirred the discussion back. He held his palms to the air while he spoke, "okay, this may sound callous of me—I'm trying to see it from a scientist point of view. You know, for the sake of a greater good and all—but…what's wrong with sacrificing those two people to save the other? Are they an important component in this upcoming war? At least, in your _other self's_ world war?"

"Yes. At least, one of them is important in fighting alongside the heroes in a front line," Strange confirmed, "Vision is not just a mere robot. He is equipped with an otherworldly artifact called Mind Stone. Or the stone in Loki's scepter, to be exact. Mind Stone power, as you all know, has an ability to control the mind of someone. In Vision's hand, however, he mostly used it as…a ray gun kind of thing. But that stone gave him unimaginable power. He may be just as powerful as Loki when the God himself was mind-controlled by the said Alien."

"He was mind-controlled?" Tony blinked, Clint's eyebrows rose.

"Yes. Although he tried to resist it. Have you ever wonder why Loki's attack seems…wishy-washy? Why would he escaped from the tower and attack the Avenger one by one? Instead of destroying the whole tower, crumbling it to pieces and buried you alive?" he asked, "there were also some inconsistencies of him opening a portal right at the roof of this tower. And yes, he justified his action by saying that the Arc Reactor on this tower had enough power to back up the opening of the portal. But with his magical skill of teleporting to other places within a blink, he could at least dump the Avenger to somewhere far away as he proceeded with his backup plan. Or at least try to escape when Ichigo here held him captive—Thor told me, by the way, when he visited me to help him in tracking his step-brother. He doesn't have a magic repressor on him at that time. Just because his plan failed, doesn't mean he should've surrendered to a people he swore to kill."

They fell into a thoughtful silence after that. It made sense, when Stephen explained it like that. Just because the Mistress protected him from the wrath of the God, doesn't mean he could be easily defeated. Sure, Tony believed that Ichigo and Danny are strong. But for a magician that lived for millennia? A magician who learned a lot of powerful spells and tricks that even Heimdall, the All-Seeing and the All-Hearing—the God of Thunder proudly boasted—could not locate Loki's existence at all? That sounded fishy.

"Well, let's put the God of Trick's trickery aside. You should know that there are other stones in these universes. They called them the 'Infinity Stones'. Including the Mind Stone, there's six of them; Soul Stone, Space Stone, Reality Stone, Power Stone," he pulled up his necklace for the other to see. With one hand waving, the eye-compartment opened by itself and a green, pretty stone clasped inside shines with ethereal light, "and this, is a Time Stone. As you can guess from the name alone, this stone controls the time. I used it before to 'bargained' with a certain God of destruction so he will not merge the Earth with his world and possibly kill us all."

"…what?"

"Yes. It happened in the middle of the Meteorite incident, where the identity of the Halfa here was discovered? Actually, I think that 'natural occurrence' happened because of that God too. He just 'accidentally' forget to erase that one attack because he was feeling a bit petty with my method of handling him. 'Can't converge my world with your world? Sure. But that doesn't mean I can't destroy yours just because'"

Danny groaned.

"But, Mr. Strange," Peter started, "losing one fighter doesn't mean we can't fill in the blank. We may not be as strong as Mr. Vision, but surely. Ichigo, Danny, and I can handle them as well."

"Uuh...nope. Nu-uh, Petey, no," Tony immediately interrupted, wiping the smug smile from the kid genius's face, "of course you can definitely handle them, but I'll not allow you to join. You're grounded."

"Wha…. , why?"

"You know why," he folded his arms in front of his chest, gazes stern, "I'll _not_ give you any permission in joining the front line soldier, nope. That's your punishment for almost giving me a heart attack yesterday night."

_"That's not fair!"_

"Deal with it."

"Is this the reason why you're meddling with us humans, Mistress?" Stephen asked, ignoring the bickering on the background—Peter was negotiating with Tony, trying to include himself in helping whatever thing he could, even if he doesn't have to be the main attacker. Tony looked like he was considering the bargain, as the brown-haired boy's puppy eyes were too much to handle yet the billionaire was still trying to hold onto his decision no matter what—staring questioningly and a bit of disbelief leaking out of his widening orbs, "because you are hoping for these kids to handle it? To handle the killer who had destroyed planets after planets without mercy? Or even remorse? Mistress, you know just because they're children, he won't pull any punches. Especially how Vision is not here and there's no safe-keeper available for the Mind Stone."

The Goddess hummed.

"**You may be arrogant. But you do have a soft spot for children, hm?" **the man recoiled, his eyebrows instantly wrinkled. Although there's an indistinct blush on his cheeks that showed them that he was not upset. Just embarrassed. Mistress giggled, **"Stephen Strange, you **_**should**_** also know that just because they're children, doesn't mean they're powerless. It may be cruel of me, to involve them in this dangerous mission. Yet they'll not stay silent when they know their precious people are going to be destroyed," **she tilted, silently asking him to broaden his sight and take a look at the children around. Except for Peter who was still trying to sweet-talk Tony Stark, the other has a glint of determination coming off of their very being; Danny stopped flying midway, Ichigo has a very sadistic smirk. Haruitsuki's eyes closed and Hanae bobbed his head almost vehemently. Takashi's expression was stoic, yet managed to look the scariest of them all, **"they will fight. They will struggle. Any enemy who **_**dare**_** threatened the safety of this world should never underestimate them. Because—"**

The breeze whispered and the birds whistled. The Mistress smiled serenely, her dark-like-abyss eyes-sockets gleamed with a promise of pain and justice.

**.**

**.**

"_**These children are a force to be reckoned with."**_


	2. Chapter 2

**TO THE INFINITY AND BEYOND**

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**Disclaimer**: Natsume Yuujinchou belongs to Yuki Midorikawa. Fukigen na Mononokean belongs to Kiri Wazawa. Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman. Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Avenger belongs to Marvel

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**Genre**: Humor

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**Warning**: **Typo **is my most loyal fan.** Spelling mistakes **because English is not my mother language. Possibly** OOC. Fluff. NOT BETA **so beware of grammar mistakes

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**Summary: **Thanos never had a chance. And the story of Tony Stark and his adopted kids has finally reached the end.

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**(A/N): **This is the longest chapter in this whole series. I intended to split it into two chapters but then I thought 'aah, screw it. This is going to be the last part of this fanfic anyway. Better end it with a BANG' :'D

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**THE DAILY BUGLE**

**BREAKING NEWS**

_Good evening, our viewer of the Daily Bugle. My name is Christine Everhart._

_I'm Spider-Man~~_

_And I'm Harley Keener_

_Today we will bring you a shocking news. Straight from Tony Stark and Spider-Man himself._

_We're going to have another war, everyone! I know! Shocking, right? We thought we're having a reprieve, especially after that Meteorite Fiasco but nope! Lady Good Luck is not on our side, like, ever!_

_Borrowing Danny's word, we're pretty much waiting for the other shoe to drop here_

_Maybe cuz superhero's luck is crappy, I _just_ have this feeling that we're going to face another calamity in the near future._

_Especially because you hang around Mr. Stark a lot. Combine with yours, I don't blame you when your luck is shitty as hell._

_Harley! Language! We have kids as our viewer here!_

'_s not like their parents haven't slip once or twice anyway. Why do you think a swear jar is such a mainstream thing in a household? Deal with it, man._

_Well, yeah. I have a swear jar in my apartment too. And Mr. Stark as well. Tho' he also has an alcohol jar cuz he's trying to stop drinking so he can be a responsible adult and all. _

_*clearing throat* Spider-Man. May I ask where'd you get the information about this supposed incoming war? We have been waiting for fifteen minutes and there's no sign of any hostile creatures around the vicinity._

_Even aliens need preparation. Just wait for another minute. I'm sure they'll come sooner or later._

_Or maybe they're scared of Mr. Stark's charisma that they decided to _nope_. Let's get the heck out of here~_

_*snorted* Charisma? Him? April Fool is over, Spidey. That joke is not even funny._

(I fucking heard that, Harley!)

_Because that's the point, Tony!_

_Also, one dollar for the swear jar!_

(Dammit!)

_That's two dollars for you~_

_But yeah. We got a tip from a Sorcerer about this. Said that he got a tip from _his_ future self that an alien is going to come here and destroy the Earth. He's like a Clairvoyance!_

_Really? And you believed his word just like that? Not a wee bit suspicious at all?_

_I guess? I saw and heard things that were waaayyy weirder tho' so actually, not really. _

_Besides, preventing is better than repairing. And after the whole Civil War debacle, I'm pretty sure people don't like 'secrecy' thingamabob anymore. At least for those that affected the safety of the world._

_Speaking about Avenger, you won't accept their power to help? _

_You serious? After they destroyed the tunnel, throwing containers willy-nilly, almost killing civilians around because they abused their power? No, thank you._

_You're asking for an apocalypse instead if you asked for their help._

_Don't you think you should set aside your animosity first, however? This concerns the safety of the world itself. And the ExVanger clearly has the power to lend._

_Oh, don't worry about that, Ms. Everhart. We already solve that problem. _

…_with only seven fighters? And three civilians?_

_Lady, I may not speak with Takashi often enough but that guy—you see that one with platinum-blonde hair? And a fat cat on his head?—yeah. Don't mess with that guy._

_Yup. He always won against Danny in quips battle and that says something. Don't tell Danny I said that tho'. He'll sulk._

_Besides, Hulk is the equivalent of an army. Don't forget about our backup there too. We can totally handle this~_

_(Backup?) What about the King of Wakanda? There's a rumor of him wanting to join in on Stark's side in a Civil War at that time? Did he decide not to help you this time around?_

_Eeeh…he's a king. And his people must've freaked out if they know about this. Actually, scratch that. We're doing this LIVE, hm? If they do have an international channel on their secluded land, yup. They must've freaked out right about now. Let him calm them down and do his kingly thing. Like we said, we're not short on people whatsoever. We can handle them. Even launch a surprise attack at them._

_But…are you sure about the location? Should we at least try to find a solid ground to fight?_

_And give the enemy the fair advantage? No way, man. This is war, not a competition. _

_Oh, look! Here it is! Cameraman! Turn the camera around, please! Thank you. We don't want to miss any detail of the upcoming epic battle, see?_

_I honestly cannot wait for the aliens' expression. Fucking record it on 1080._

_Language._

* * *

"I'm still mad that you hide this secret from me, Peter."

The said teen winced while his hands were busy tinkering with a silver, tile cube with green color splotched randomly on each of every side. It looked like a Rubik cube, yet it was not really because there are only two colors in it. Peter, with his face still covered by the Spider-Man mask, mumbled, not looking at Harley who was standing at the far opposite of him, "sorry. I just…" the green color started dominating one side of the cube and he started on piecing the others, "we…don't want to involve you in this…supernatural stuff."

"Oh no. I'm not mad at that one. Even if every one of you told me, I can't really see them anyway. I appreciate the Glasses, though. I have a crap ton of fun conversing with the nice one," Harley said, fixing the said Glasses to stay on the bridge of his nose. He was busy playing with the same Rubik cube too; he already finished two sides and proceeded to tackle another one, "I'm mad because you hide your identity from me. If I didn't catch you slipping on one of your patrols, I may actually never discover this side of yours."

It happened a day before the Homecoming, in one of the videos some civilians managed to record. There's nothing very special about it. Just Spider-Man doing his round and stop a mugging of a bank at the outskirt of town. The thing was, one of the robber pulled out a gun out of his inside jacket pocket, aimed it at the masked superhero and started shooting him. Spider-Man evaded every single bullet, except one that nicked the left side of his thigh, severing the inner pocket and launching his phone away before it fell to the road. It didn't crack—as expected of StarkPhone—yet that one mistake had cost him; at least, to Harley who was an avid fan of any superhero, his denial aside. Because see, as a token of a science-project buddy, they made a 'tribute' to each other. A phone strap ("stop looking at me weirdly, MJ! Just because I'm a boy, doesn't mean I can't have a matching phone strap with my friend!", "Nah. Nothing's wrong with that. I just thought it was so you, nerd", "urgh…what was that supposed to mean?"). Or to be exact, an Iron Man phone strap. Created from the remains of their latest project—they were trying to create a lightsaber that day. It was still a work in progress by the way—and obviously, there's only one set of a dabbing-Iron-Man strap in this world. It was a quick drop of a clue yet Harley saw it anyway.

Peter blanched when the youngest kid showed him the paused video on their last video-call, index finger pointed to the 'unique' phone strap, face blank and expression deadpanned.

The teen winced at the recollection. He intended to explain the whole thing to his lab buddy after the dance party, but then the whole Toomes' fiasco happened. Then him losing blood so fast his brain figuratively turned to muss and the news of an incoming war right at the next day. It made Harley's silent demand completely slipped out of his mind and he lowered his head a little bit more, ashamed at his mistake. No wonder Tony grounded him. It was a miracle that he allowed him to be a news anchor along with the youngest kid, announcing their incoming fight. He may be still watching the war from up close, a VIP seat of some sort. But not, in any second, will he join in on the battle no matter how he wished to help his friend in finishing this debacle once and for all, "I'm sorry, I—"

"Like, seriously! I'm so fucking disappointed that you didn't ask my input on your new web-shooter!" Harley pouted, causing Peter to swiveled his sight to him in an instant. Did he just—. Harley put the complete Rubik on the ground—the finished product was five sides of green tiles and one side of silver tiles—then started to fiddle with another one, "I have soooo many ideas for your arsenal. A color-changing web-shooter so when you shoot it to a place, it'll instantly mimic the color of the substance. You can create a classic pit-hole trap with that. Or a homing bullet that will explode the sticky web to the enemy. We have to think about its coordination, first of all though. We don't want it to explode on the wrong person just because it loses the sight of the villain when they turn to a corner or something. Maybe we can force it to change into a harmless sticky ball when it did lose its target…"

_He really did!_ Spider-Man put his Rubik down and turned, the eye sockets of the mask widening in perceptible, "you…are not mad that I hide my identity from you?"

"Nope. I don't really care about the hero's side of yours. I mean…you know how my reaction went when I saw Tony in my workshop, right?" yes. He immediately ogled over the incredible technology that is Iron Man suit. Not the man himself, "I care about the science aspect of it! Is Vibranium really the strongest material ever that no other thing can ever destroy it? But then how did Tony's father melted it and turned it into a shield? How did Thor really summon his thunder? Magic, sure. But what if we implement it in our 'real' life? Maybe a charger or something? Natasha and Clint are just a normal spy, nothing really groundbreaking there. And then there's Professor Banner. I'm curious at how his pants stay on him when he turned into a Hulk. Do you think he used an elastic, stretchy material for his boxer? Cuz that's definitely his boxer right?"

Peter chocked on his saliva, coughing hard and shoulders trembling. He heard this argument before and it never failed to amuse him.

(But seriously, though. How could his pants stay on him when he turned into a Hulk?)

One thing for sure, his dismissal and penchant of babbling told him that he's not mad at _him_. Never mad. Not exactly. He was just disappointed Peter didn't invite him in updating his hero costume. Harley was ready to tinker the Iron Man suit the moment he laid his caramel orbs to it. But when Tony didn't allow him to—not because he lacked creativity, oh no. Far from it. Because Harley was _too_ creative, the brunette was sure he'll add any weapon of destruction into it just because—the kid chose the second-best option a.k.a Spider-Man suit. A guinea pig was right in front of him yet he could not unleash his geniuses to the world because Peter decided to hid it from him? Unbelievable. At least that was the gist he got from his incessant rambling.

"It's done," Harley dropped his second cube to the ground with a small huff of victory. He looked at the friendly neighborhood hero, one eyebrow rose, "so? What should we do with this cubes thingy?"

"Oh, right," Peter put his at the opposite field then roamed his brown orbs around the place. They were in the middle of a beach, with an impromptu news background made of paper-mache, a long wooden table for the paperwork (though Peter and Harley were sure they'll not read most of them and just fly by the seat of their pants. At least Christine will redirect them toward their main event if they veer too far. And she was one of the reporters who was neutral towards Tony and co. So that's a plus) and three plastic chairs for them to sit. It mimicked a setting of a television station, just for the sake of being extra (if Tony only allowed him to watch from the sideline, then he could at least enjoy his punishment). Their supposed battleground was far away from the town, no civilian on sight; except for Takashi, Sam, and Tucker, who was running along the shore without much care, like they were not in a middle of war preparation at all, along with Danny who was flying in zig-zag pattern and chasing after them. They're playing a tag, basically. Tony was checking over Clint's arsenal, strapping the retractable shield on his right forearm and giving him instructions on how to use it. While Bruce, wearing the Glasses, was reprimanding the see-through Hulk for eating his pudding. Rhodey snorted while Ichigo in his Shinigami form (the reason why Christine said seven fighters instead of eight) silently chuckled. Stephen and Wong were busy talking with the Mistress of Death, Mind Stone is hidden within the plump man's necklace; it was their bait to lure the alien here, the presence of the magic artifact acted like a homing beacon for the enemy to located. After checking the other people besides Christine, the Cameraman, Harley, and himself were not in their vicinity—Haruitsuki and Hanae were situated off to the side of their 'station'. Yet not too close either and was a meter away from the Rubik cube. Both of them were sitting calmly inside the container someone had illegally dump. Or to be exact, inside the Mononokean the blonde teen had summoned, with the container as their exit route. Last he saw, they were preparing for snacks and beverages for the soldiers to consume—Peter rummaged his yellow sling bag and pulled out a silver remote control with a green-blue button on it, "we just have to press this and…"

BIIIINGG

WHUMP

A barrier erected from the four cubes laying around. Creating a transparent, color-changing dome; it acted like a wave, changing the color from green to blue to silver to green again and so on. Peter started to explain as Christine gasped in wonderment from the background, "see the green and blue? That came from Danny's ghost essence and Tony's arc reactor. The silver one was from the Vibranium King T'Challa graciously gave us. They send us the melted material—as, you know, we don't really have the technology to do that ourselves—and we mixed them all inside this Rubik cube," he put the switch back to his bag, "as long as we are inside, no ghost, magic, or physical attack will hurt us. We can safely broadcast the news without fear of hurting ourselves! It lasts for five days, by the way."

Harley's eyes glittered with admiration. And a bit of jealousy because he could not join in on the fun himself as he was too busy finishing his school project that day. His fanboying phase stopped for a moment as he tilted his head, thumb and index finger curled around his chin.

"Why do you need to create the gadget into a Rubik cube, tho'? Wasn't it counter-productive for a shield like this to be primed first before you can activate it? You can just create something like a compact projector. Maybe in a disc. So you can just press a button to turn the shield on instead of completing the Rubik first."

"…"

"You don't even know the reason, aren't you?"

"Don't blame me! This is Mr. Stark's and Danny's idea! I'm just going along for the ride!"

While two of his kids' started their broadcasting back there (more like squabbling), JARVIS sent a quick alert to Tony's Iron-Man's HUD, causing him to snap his attention to the far sea. Stephen, Wong, and the Mistress did the same. On the blue sky, a portal—the one reminiscence from Loki's invasion—opened up. Swirling the blue of the sky and blackening them, consuming the clouds around like a drainpipe, the other who was busy with their own stuff now was focusing their attention onto the oddity. Before long, a spaceship that shaped like a donut descended. Centipede-whale-alien they also saw from The God of Trickery's invasion followed along. Bringing on hundred, thousand of Verdugo-from-Resident-Evil-but-without-a-tail look-alike (he blamed Danny for this random tidbit) on their back, growling and snapping. Humongous canines ready to popped their necks and chomp their flesh. There were also people who clearly on a different rank than those zombies knock-off, riding another transportation that the Chitauri years ago used; A man draped in black robes, with pale skin and sharp teeth. A blue woman with a goofy pronged helmet. A brick man that almost rivaled Hulk in a term of size. A Voldemort cheap imitation. And the last one. A purple man with a jutted, wrinkly chin, wearing golden armor and a golden helmet. The appearance of that one made Tony smirk. Be it in anxiety or anticipation, he didn't really know. Yet his smile was wide and a bit painful to see, as he opened the face of his headpiece and mumbled, "nice to finally meet you—"

"_Thanos…"_

* * *

"Terrans," Thanos slowly spoke, his voice reverberated throughout the air and rippling the water below. The army stopped on their trek and his children—Corvus Glave, Proxima Midnight, Cull Obsidian, and Ebony Maw—floated behind him, pose rigid and ready to attack or defend at moment notice, "it seems that you all know about our arrival. Thank you for the warm welcome."

"As you may already guess," he let his smile decorated the purple face, gaze almost chiding, causing the archer of the group—Clint Barton. Loki, who was under his influence before, reported—bristled at the implication. The man in a lab coat—Bruce Banner. The human form of a Hulk, the one who had fought the God of Lightning and live to tell the tale—frowned, fists clenching, "we're here to pick up the last two stones. And," his orbs flitted to the two magician—he knew Stephen Strange. The God of Trickery informed him about his 'mission' in searching for Loki's location. He didn't know the name of the other one, however. Not like he cared that much—who tensed under his gaze, palm instantly clutched the eye-necklace on their chest in order to hide its presence even though it was already useless, "you graciously brought it to us."

"Hey, hey, hold up there, Tantan," it was the Titan's turn to scowl. Of course. The man in red armor. Tony Stark. The one who blew up the ship of his troop, delaying his invasion a bit longer than it should. A mechanic of this planet, who makes the world's gear turning. _A man with influence_. He stood there, hands on his hips and a smarmy grin plastered on his complexion, looking relaxed at the presence of a higher being, "we're not here to offer you these pretty jewelry. We're here to barter~"

Barter?

"No, we do not." The plump sorcerer chimed in.

"What? Come on, Wong. Let me have my fun!" the brunette pouted, the one named Wong just huffed.

"We're here to stole yours, actually," a being with white hair and a black jumpsuit—Danny Phantom. Or Danny Fenton, for his human side. He knew about him. Not much, but he listened to Maw's report about a sight of a different creature on this backwater planet. That they had to stop a meteorite from destroying their home and his majesty should've re-thinking the plan of action before visiting this place—sing-songed, forming a wide grin that closed his neon green eyes, "we heard you want to abuse its power and kill a looootttt of people so we're here to stop that from happening."

"Abuse? I didn't abuse this power. I'm using it properly," Thanos patiently explained. Terrans didn't know about this fate he had to burden, doesn't mean he'll let them be in the dark for any longer, "this world is cruel. I have seen it again and again and again. Where the winner lives in luxury. And the loser lives in poverty. I'm sure you Terrans have the same problem as well. And I'm here to settle that once and for all."

"By eliminating half of the populace? Yeah, no thank you," the one in black armor—he must be Stark's underlings, judging from the same gear—interjected, it stole his attention. But that was not because of his harsh tone, nor his heated gaze.

It was his answer.

Eliminating half of the populace, how did he know about that? Was Terran actually not as stunted as they thought it was? That they had technology as advances as one of the planets he visited before?—he doesn't really care about its name, by the way. Where they gathered information good enough to conclude the true power of the Infinity Stones and his intention along the way? Then their saying of them being here to stop him from enacting his plan was true. However—

"You're underprepared," Thanos said instead, the pity smile was back on his face, "did you really think that you can stop me, let alone _defeat_ me, with only ten people. Look around you," he spread his arms, the army behind him chittered in a gleeful roar, "even with your small brain, you should know that you will not win. Not with your…army."

"But you see here, Tantan. That's where you're wrong. On Earth, we have a saying," Tony spoke as Thanos gestured his underlings to strike (that nickname grated on his nerve. Not that he'll admit such a petty thing). Leviathan—who was circling around, as its leader had not given them any order whatsoever—finally move forwards, bringing the agitated Outrider along. Thanos and his children stood back by the background, sure that they'll win this without them having to lend a hand. One of the alien armies were almost on the shore of the beach while the Billionaire was still speaking, "'Don't judge a book by its cover'. Meaning, just because you only see ten of _us—"_

SLASH SLASH SLASH

CRASH BANG

BOUUMMM

Every single alien was cut up. Sliced to pieces or shot to death, their body fell to the ocean below. Thanos gaped and Tony smirked.

"_Doesn't mean our powers are lacking~"_

* * *

_What_, was what going through Maw's mind. He grunted when something hit him. And that's the problem. There's nothing in front of him—just air and cloud—but the strike was real. The hurt was real and he had to duck under the gust of wind that blew so fast, it actually chopped the Outriders behind him into nothing. Midnight howled with pain when the invisible bullet pierced her shoulder, that it tore a chunk of flesh right of its place. It was not the Iron Man's attack, nor it's the Iron Patriot's. Those two robotic Terrans were busy fighting the other Outrider far, far to the left. It was not Danny Phantom's ghostly beam, he was playing 'knock knock' joke with the no-passenger Leviathan before he possessed it and force it to crash to the other one of its kind. It was not Hawkeye's quiver either, as he was tasked to protect the little ground they have along with the Platinum Blonde kid—who was just standing around and doing nothing, yet every attack that was aimed at him was somehow got repelled—friends of the halfa—Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, shooting the too-close-for-comfort Aliens with a bazooka—and the monstrous form of the Hulk. No. That 'bullet' suddenly appeared out of nowhere. And if it was not because of the form of the wound Midnight had sustained—half a circle, she dodged the full bullet—Maw will never know what kind of strike his 'sister' unwillingly accepted. _What is this? What happened here?_

Even their Mighty Father was confused, looking around his army that, as time passed by, kept reducing and failing. Nevertheless, his experience of war and battle taught him to believe in his instinct. So he managed to dodged, avoided, and blocked all of the unseeing force that had been unleashed upon them. His brother does not, however. As Glave's body soared to the sky when _something_ kicked him under his chin—at least his plane turned over to catch him in a second—and Obsidian's brick chest somehow torn apart, causing him to stumble and went berserk. Maw silently cursed when the odd wind decided to turn its attention back to him, slashing the end of his robe and continued to the Outriders behind.

This is ridiculous. Their Father even used one of the stone—the Reality Stone—to create a massive meteorite, trying to end this charade in one fell swipe. But then the air suddenly turned colder at one side and turned prickly on the other side. Before the meteor stop in midair, held back by something their eyes could not comprehend. The bottom part of the meteorite slowly turned into ice and the upper part was sliced into tiny pieces. In a second, that meteorite was nothing but ashes. He tried to wrap the reality, to stumble them at the sudden change of an environment. Yet was stopped once again, this time by Stephen and Wong, countering the fold of the air by turning it into a mirror image. Then a bunch of claw marks that glowed with ethereal green light appeared, it shattered the reality back to normal. Over and over, Thanos tried to attack—using the Power Stone, he created a shockwave that blasted the air and the unfortunate Leviathan from his punch alone. Then another shockwave from the opposite side appeared, sending his strike back towards him and almost throwing them off balance because of the sudden retaliation (there's also a deep rumble along with it. Like a roar of a beast, though Maw chalked that part out as an imagination). Thanos tried to resurrect the dead Leviathan and Outrider using the Soul Stone. But the plan of overwhelming the enemy using numbers failed when that prickly air appeared for the second time and it cut up all the resurrected army in a blink of an eye like it was a mere butter. Tired of having to keep reviving his soldiers back, it didn't give him any room to launch another attack of his own, their Father abandoned the idea and focused on to the heroes once more—but no matter what strike he dissed, it was never enough. Somehow, they have a proper counter-attack for everything. Don't even start with how easy they were in butchering the Outriders, the aliens could not do anything besides flailing their arms wildly and hoping for the best.

_Of course._ Maw thought as he sent a blast of a magic wave to a presence he felt on top of him. Judging by how the ray kept going forward and not touching the invisible thing, whatever it was had managed to dodge it. _That's why they chose this beach as their battleground. Somehow, they know what kind of army we'll bring. So, even if they're outnumbered, they're trying to hinder our full power by fighting in the air. _

How did they know Outrider is a land-type combatant though?

"Enough of this!" Thanos roared, catching his children's attention. He rose his hand to the air, poised to snap his fingers as the red stone—the Reality Stone—glimmered, "whoever or whatever it was that hide their true form from _my_ sight, _**REVEAL YOURSELF!"**_

SNAP

The air shimmered, the clouds morphed. It acted like dust got blew away because of the wind. Slowly, surely. And Maw's eyes—that he didn't realize was cloudy all this time had finally _cleared_—widened as he took the real, _real_ scenery. They thought that it was full of their army alone, that the Terrans were underprepared, could only recruit ten people for this battle. But it was clearly wrong. Because in front of him stood—were they actually standing on thin air?—dozen of people clad in black uniform and some of them wearing a white coat over it. The Ghosts Maw saw from the Meteorite accident float there. And a couple of…weird creature—some of them looked human, some of them not—were present as well. Their number was less than their army, sure. Yet their prowess was immense. They were clearly strong, no, _stronger_ than them because they could still move freely like they were walking on ground and _one of them just shredded a bunch of Outriders with sakura petals what the he—_

Tony punched the walking-corpse from its perch and turned, noting the shock on the invader's face and how their orbs rolling around, capturing the bizarre scene into their mind. He blinked owlishly, "huh. Did Mistress lent the Sight again?"

* * *

_Takashi, at the abandoned temple behind the school, was standing in front of the 'Dog-Circle with arms folded in front of his chest. Ichigo, at the Captain Meeting Hall, was slouching on his feet while he explained the situation. Danny, in the Ghost Zone, wore his King Crown and float near the podium, gaze stern. Their question was the same._

"_Are you ready?"_

_At the nods of their follower (or superior, in Ichigo's case) the smile turned feral as they spoke._

"_**Then it's time to rumble~"**_

* * *

"Oh? You can see me now?" Hinoe tilted her head and gaze at the stunned Midnight, "am I still presentable enough to keep on fighting? My bun doesn't fall out of its place, right?"

"Losing my invisibility doesn't mean I can't still fight!" Skulker guffawed as he shot the alien dead, "I'm going to skin you _alive!"_

Christine gaped and the Cameraman's own jaw fell to the floor. _What_. One moment they were watching the enemy got beat up by things she could not see and suddenly, _something_ appeared. What are they? Those people wearing a black hakama and bearing dangerous weapon range from katana to a retractable, red dragon. One of them was a kid with ice wings on his back. The other has a caterpillar baby or a humongous, long-haired lady hanging on the crook of their neck. A lady with a giant, yellow bullet as her right arm was smacking the alien like a pinball. And a man who looked like a red monster was swinging his crooked axe almost wildly, black hair swayed menacingly. An ice queen—or a princess, as she still looks like a teenager—gracefully danced around the creature and sliced anything that blocked her path. While surrounded by the beautiful yet deadly sakura petal, some form of attack from the man with three headpins. Christine also saw a boy with orange hair and dual blades standing on the air, berating over the older man with a straw hat for checking on the body of the women here instead of fighting the war, they absentmindedly hacking any enemy that came too close to their personal space.

A purple-haired woman in ponytail suddenly appeared behind the Straw Hat, smacked his head, and dashed once more. Leaving a trail of chopped meat along her wake._ What—_

Then there's the ghost she saw on the television, when they announced the doom of the Earth as a huge meteorite decided to bowl over their planet. The ghosts present here were ranging from Skulker, shooting his bazooka around like a deranged hunter, to Pandora, piercing any enemy she laid her eyes upon with her decorated spear. Princess Dorathea in her dragon form bit the head of the whale alien. While Frostbite, along with his brethren, froze the enemy by shooting an ice beam from their palm. Johnny 13 and Katty, his girlfriend, was drawing the sharp string as far as they could before they flew (or revved his motor engine, in Johnny's case), cleaving the zombie alien to half with their tightened thread. Ember strummed her guitar to put the enemy to sleep and causing them to drown. Wulf tore the reality of the Outriders' form, the sudden gravitational force of the Ghost Zone suck their innards inside. And Lunch Lady sprung his meat bomb to the Leviathan with a sharp laugh. Not only did it destroyed the alien when it exploded, it also sprayed the excess meat to any directions and glued the unfortunate souls around into a sticky ball, before it kerplunk to the ocean below. _Is—_

And speaking about creatures from another realm, there's also these weird…thing, flying with their own feet or was supported by a clump of clouds. A one-eyed beast and a hippo looking human were pounding their spiked baseball bat and spiked mice with glee. A woman with lavender hair that was tied into a tidy bun was swinging an evil looking scythe at the invader. Another with a butterfly over one of her eyes was spraying the aliens with the same animal as her mask, swarming them like ants to sweets. Three other women—with one eye as her one-horn mask's decoration. Another with a bandage as a replacement of her eye-cover. And the last with a deadpan gaze behind her long, flowy black hair—were kicking around Thanos' army with a thin sword or just plain, old beating the enemy up till they're black and blue. There's also a huge, purple horse with lavender hair flying by, shouting a small shockwave at the other side of the battlefield. While another big monster, this time was shaped like a white fox with a _long_ tail, was mostly hanging by the beach, protecting the humans standing by. _This—_

_What…what is this?_

"Here's a snack to fill up our tummy," Harley piped in from the right side of her. She didn't even realize he was gone until he came back. The kid stood there, with a tray containing three cups of green tea and a plate full of cookies, "did I miss something good?"

"Not really. Thanos just snap his finger and it looked like he _did _something," Spider-Man answered, pulling the bottom part of his mask up and start consuming the food. He sipped the beverage a little as he sighed in contentment, "I don't know what, tho'. Those Verdugo looking thing doesn't revive anymore. No reality breaking nor meteorite trying to kill them all…"

"Hm? Ms. Everhart, what's wrong?" Harley blinked, noticing the mouth of the reporter was wide open. Her face was white, eyes bulging.

Christine, disbelief and a bit of apprehension marred her complexion, pointed her index finger to a place behind Harley. Or more precisely, to the Monokean door on the unused container, "s-since when is that place there? How…how is there a Japanese room inside that container? Did you really just order a snack from there?"

Peter and Harley looked at the Monokean—watching as Haruitsuki and Hanae gave the visiting Sam and Tucker an orange juice for them to quench their thirst. They immediately went back to the battlefield when they're done. Then Shuuichi's servant, Hiiragi and the former commander of Omnitsukido, Yoruichi suddenly appeared inside the tatami room, asking for the same drink as well—stared at the pale-face Christine, before they finally looked at each other. The youngest kid lowered his Glasses and blinked, he hummed in contemplation, "huh, you're right. I can see them just fine now."

"So that was the result of Thanos' snap," Peter concluded.

"S-Spider-Man…Harley" Christine started, "you...you two know about this?" they nodded, "then…what are they? What is that monster?"

"Well, if you can See them, that means our viewer at home can See them also! Let me give you guys a lesson! The black uniform people over there," the Cameraman moved the lens around, capturing any person in black clothes within a full view of the camera. Kenpachi maniacally laughed as he went after Obsidian—he managed to hurt him once, he'll definitely do it again—slaying the Outsiders who were standing on his path along the way. Renji immediately snatched some survivors by coiling his red dragon on their figure, as per the order of Mayuri and Kisuke; they definitely planned to experiment on them after this, poor soul, "those are called Shinigami. Or a Death God. Those people are responsible for sending you to Heaven or Hell when you die," Rukia and Ichigo were coiling around the Leviathan at the other side of the Berserker's rampage, dicing the whale into pieces. A wonderful combo, they looked like a cyclone of white and black. Especially as Byakuya decided to let his flower petal accompanied their deadly twirl, creating a beautiful yet morbid scenery out of their performance, "for those who are atheist, they don't care if you believe in the afterlife or not. As long as you're kind to others and yourself, they'll not send you to the deepest pit of Hell," Peter faked a shiver as he watched Toshiro sprayed the ice needle from his wings to the Outsiders, nailing it right on their forehead. He swerve with a sharp turn when a yellow bullet dashed past him, however, shredding Glave's coat and killing another whale. The annoyed ice captain was instantly restrained by Shunsui before he could move to berate Soifon—who didn't really care and was seeking for Yoruichi's approval—not wanting him to maim the comrade for the recklessness, "I heard that place is _not_ a good place, brr."

"That's why they help us," Harley ate the cookies and sipped the tea, "by planning on destroying the Earth, those alien threatened the balance of life and death. Of course, they won't stay silent about it."

"Then there's the Ghosts. Tho'…you already know about them. They just decided to fight with their invisibility on. For the surprise attack, you know. I'm still curious how could they 'see' each other when this skill of them was activated tho'. Was it some kind of Ghost Sense? Like my Spider Sense?" Peter went off tangent at the last sentences, causing Christine to clear her throat so she could jolt him back to reality. He sheepishly chuckled. At least the reporter doesn't seem to be afraid anymore, "so let's move on to the other creature. Those monsters," the camera panned to other beings. Benio laughed airily while her butterfly flew around her body, slashing any enemy that came too close to the barrier. Hiiragi, Sasago and Urihime were seen chasing after Midnight, Hinoe pouted at them for stealing her prey, "those, are Youkai. They're creatures that existed because of human emotion coalescing in one place—be it good emotion or bad emotion—or a former ghost who transformed into one because they stay in this plane of living for too long."

"Ghost? Then they're the same as Skulker and such?" Christine asked.

Peter shrugged, "not really, actually."

"Here's the difference. There are multiple choices for the ghost to choose regarding the fate of their 'life'. Either the Shinigami sent them to the afterlife and have a chance of reincarnation, go to the Ghost Zone and gained a power but lose the ability to stay invisible, or stay within a purified land, such as temple or any place with a good talisman in it, so they can turn into a Youkai," Harley answered, continuing the halted explanation. He was reading his note from the phone, information that he got after he grilled his lab friend to spill everything to him or else he'll confiscate the Lightsaber, "from what we know, ex-ghost usually turned out to be a good youkai, as Shinigami tended to send the bad one straight to hell before they could wreak any havoc. Bad Youkai still existed mostly because they were created by Human's Bad emotions. Those type of feeling usually resided in a cursed place such as a haunted house or an abandoned building where a lot of humans died, be it from accident or murder."

"Oh, by the way," Peter chimed back, "'mischievous' doesn't really include in that Bad Emotion category. A little bit of prank doesn't hurt anyone. Though, sometimes they went too far and injured people. Just like humans, they _do_ have character development as time passed by. Nice person doesn't stay nice if you keep pressing on their button, you know."

"So, because they help us in this war, those Youkai are good Youkai?" Christine concluded, tense shoulders now relaxing, knowing they will not turn on them anytime soon.

"Yup. Don't worry about that, Ms. Everhart. Takashi is their leader, he'll keep them in check," Spider-Man smiled while he tilted his head to the Platinum-Blonde teen. He was surrounded by Chukyuu A and B, gushing over their own performance and want Takashi to praise them. He opened his mouth to do just that, but snapped his head upward when he saw Maw, zig-zagging around the army and their force, managed to get close enough to the beach and was ready to shot a magic beam toward the third grader.

Nyanko-sensei, in his wolf form, and Misuzu, the Horse Youkai, suddenly appeared with a loud boom, standing behind Takashi almost regally. Nyanko swiped the noseless alien away with his tail. Then Misuzu added his mighty roar for a good measure, sending Maw back to his previous location; far, _far_ away from the lounging human on the shore.

All the while Takashi just stood there, with hands folded in front of his chest, looking a bit bored and uninterested*. Christine gaped for the second time.

Harley chuckled, "see, lady? I told you not to underestimated him."

"What about them?" the reporter said after her shock was gone, waving her slender hand towards the Mononokean, "are they Youkai too?"

"Well, basically. Let's just say, if Ghost has their own realm to live, then Youkai have their own place to stay as well. Oh, speaking about that," the web-slinger beckoned the Cameramen to zoom in on the Japanese room, catching sight of Haruitsuki and Hanae sitting inside—they were watching the ensuing fight with awe on their face. Although, Haruitsuki's version was a lot milder while Hanae brightened like a sun, "news for you, all Youkai who want to get away from Human. I know, some of us are not very easy to deal with. Especially those stuck up exorcist. You can ask my friend here to send you to the _other_ world. Dial the phone number under the screen—did you put it, cameramen? The number that I gave you this morning? You do? Good—give us the exact location and our 'taxi' here ("Mononokean is not a taxi, dammit!", "500 yens for you, Abeno-san", "tch") will come to pick you up. So don't hesitate to contact us~"

"You…two seems very knowledgeable about this…side of reality," Christine slowly asked. Before an imaginary bulb figuratively turned on and she mussed, "you've been seeing them for who-knows-how-long. That's why you don't ask the ExVenger for help. And said not to worry at all. Because _those,"_ she turned her gaze forward once more, staring as Johnny rammed the smaller meteorite Thanos summoned once more with the back of his motorcycle and send it tumbling towards the purple alien, he immediately turned the stone off so the attack won't connect, "those people are _enough_ to hold the enemy back."

Both of them mischievously grinned.

It was laughably easy, even after Thanos revealed the existence of another creature so they can finally send a counter-attack towards the heroes. The supernatural army kept pressing and pressing; Misuzu, Toshiro, and Byakuya gave the highest damage output—borrowing the kid's gaming lingo—as those three's attack are the Spread Out type. At one point, Danny was close enough to his intended point and shot the Portal Bazooka towards the Space portal the Alien used to arrive here. They didn't really understand the science, but that reckless strike managed to close the hole for good. Something 'negative atom' meeting 'negative atom' something something, Bruce tried to explain to the children around after the war was over (though the professor was pretty sure the only one who understands everything was Tony, Peter, and Harley. Heck, there's smoke rising out of Hanae's ears after that complicated explanation, his brain was fried). The gist of it was, those two portals clashed, stretched thin like a rubber band before it snuffed itself out completely. With that gone, Thanos cannot summon a new batch of his army anymore and have to fight with the one who was already present in the Earth; which, was being reduced to almost nothingness within minutes, seconds even. Then Kenpachi destroyed the Donut Spaceship with one slash, that bloodthirsty, battle maniac. When Thanos was desperate enough that the leader of the alien did a rash move, extending his gloved hand _too_ far from his own body and was poised to snap—

SLASH

"_GRAAAHHHH!"_

Yoruichi smirked as she twirled on the air, the hidden knife on the sole of her shoes glinted with blood.

Stephen created a magic portal under Thanos' nose and sent the _thing_ towards the wolf Ghost.

Wulf opened a portal with a slash of claws.

And the Infinity Gauntlet—along with Thanos' severed arm—are now within Danny's Castle. Safe, protected. Nobody could retrieve it as long as the Rubik barrier the halfa placed around the building is still standing.

Technically, the war has ended there.

Of course, Thanos didn't accept that. He roared—guttural and with a tint of pain. No wonder, he just lost his arm—and dashed, his sight rested on Tony, who clapped Yoruichi's palm for the job well done. The brunette blinked at the rampaging alien, hands swung upward as Thanos' punch almost descend upon him—

And the time stopped.

It didn't stop like how Clockwork's skill work. They could not move but they could still see, eyes still rolling around—although, for those who unfortunately turned their back and didn't face Thanos will miss the next thing happening—and ears still functioning. The air shimmered, the air tightened. Slowly but surely, the Mistress appeared. Along with Clockwork in his mature form. Peter heard Christine choke a gasp beside him, another question was stuck behind her throat.

"**As a Goddess of Death, I cannot meddle with the mortal, be it their life or their own struggle. Yet you, Thanos. You **_**meddle**_** when you're not supposed to," **Mistress's black socket stared, the frozen Thanos freeze even more. His eyes widening and he was clearly trying to justify his action (because surely. As the Being of Balance, she should know how precarious this plan is. How important his role is) but one glare from her wiped that notion away, **"you think highly of yourself, put yourself in the same place as **_**me**_**. The audacity of it does not concern me in the slightest but your intention is. Open your eyes and **_**look**_**, Thanos. This world—this universe. **_**Any**_** universes—is in balance. It always is."**

"**Wealthy and poor. Smart and fool. They balanced each other," **her aura turned up a notch, even the Shinigami started to feel uncomfortable, **"even if you banish all the Poor, Wealthy will suffer. They saw how other people are richer than them and they'll feel like they're just as miserable as the Poor, no matter how massive the material things they have was. If you banish all the Fool, Smart will struggle. They saw how the other get the thing they want and they'll feel like they're just as useless as the Fool, no matter how knowledgeable they were. It's a vicious cycle, one you cannot break. One that even **_**I **_**cannot break. But that, is what we called 'Balance'."**

"**I…cannot help those universes who are already in battle with your counterpart. Whether they win or not, I cannot interfere," **she flew closer and put her bony hand on Thanos' scalp. Black feather suddenly appeared around him and engulfed his entire being, his children grunted with panic, **"but from this universe onward, **_**you**_** will be gone. I'm not cruel enough to deny you your existence. But in the other world, where the day you will be born has arrive, you will not have this **_**desire**_** of yours. Never have and never will. Today I decreed," **the feather glow a disturbing black color. It expanded and expanded—

Before it exploded.

And Thanos was nowhere to be found.

"_**And so mote it be."**_

.

.

Tony stumbled when the time moved again, blinking at the magnificent shows his step-Mother performed. The halted attack continued once more, turning the remaining Leviathan and Outriders into nothing. The enemy that was still standing was Thanos' children, who were too shocked at the disappearance of their father that they haven't even realized their army was no more. Mistress turned towards Clockwork and gave him a single feather, **"I leave Thanos to you, my old friend."**

"**Of course. It's such a pity that I cannot bring Dan a new friend. At least, one that can talk," **Clockwork chuckled as he thumped his cane on the air. And the feather on Mistress' hold was gone with a swirl of green, **"but his ego was through the roof already, we should not further it even more. Right, Danny?"**

"Hey! Just because he's me, doesn't mean you can just throw me under the bus like that!" the halfa pouted.

RUMBLE RUMBLE

The sky suddenly turned grey, white clouds were traded by the grey one as lightning crackled one after another. A loud sound that split the air was heard. Before Thor, the God of Thunder, a raccoon and a tree that walked like a human appeared not too far from the reporter booth. Looking menacing with his new haircut and a new weapon. His eyes flashed and his voice boomed, _"Thanos! _Your opponent is_ me!"_

Silence.

Clint chuckled when Thor eased his fighting stance and looked around in confusion, "you're a tad bit _too_ late, man. 'A' for effort tho'"

* * *

With Thanos gone, his command that ordered the unseeing creature to be visible was nulled. The Youkai returned to their life of anonymity, the Ghosts and Shinigami decided to go back to their own realm as well. The Media was in an uproar, however. First the declaration of war toward the Earth, again (can they have a rest, seriously?). And to think something like _that_ has been living with them all this time? The appearance of a Ghost in Amity Park shook the world and this? Youkai and the God of Death, don't even start with the Goddess who rules over them all. It didn't just shake the Earth, the information literally blew everyone's mind. The Government wanted clarification. They want to 'interview' each one of these supernatural beings, asked them what they want and want them to leave their home alone!

So Tony tried to calm them down. He explained to the reporters around, how he has been living in this fine line for several years already. He didn't tell them about Taki's Glasses—it was her Grandpa's inheritance, he won't let other people besides their circle touch it within a mile—but he did tell them that some were 'blessed' by the Sight. The prime example was these kids he unofficially adopted, he waved to the seated children—and Clint too—at his left side, wearing a fine suit and hair slicked back so they look presentable; well, as much as they could, as it was basically a fail for Ichigo, with his permanent scowl. And Peter, with his Spider-Man mask still on.

However, 'blessed' was a strong word. Tony said that this Sight is a miracle and a _curse_ at the same time. The moment you step into their world, you cannot escape. They'll haunt you if you see them. They'll chase you just because you glance at them.

"I never thought about them as a 'person' before. I only see them as a tool I can use," Clint's eyebrows rose, "because the one I've met were those dreadful ones. Where they want to avenge their death towards those who killed them. That wicked intention painted me a not-so-good picture towards Ghost and Youkai altogether."

"I've been having a hard time controlling my power when I first got it. Breaking some things because I held them too hard. Sensory overload because of my enhanced senses," Peter mumbled, "I got a nightmare from time to time, be it of criminals I apprehended or the safety of my family. The first time I saw the…grotesque one _traumatized_ me."

"I've been seeing them since I was a kid. It's…uncomfortable. To see those who passed away or those who's fate stuck between hate and jealousy," Ichigo grunted, "and now with my Shinigami's work, it became harder and harder. Because the thing is, I always believe in second chance. To see them get sent into Hell for their mistakes, no matter how deserving they were, I…could never get used to it."

"Protecting my home from my version of Ghost was hard enough. And now I can see the supernatural being too. I _literally_ cannot sleep during the first week of my patrol. One of them chase me just because our eyes met," Danny shrugged, "it's been getting better now, tho'"

"It's my job to send those Youkai to their realm if they wish to. I cannot complain nor protest," Haruitsuki hummed, "this is _my_ fate and I cannot escape from it. I don't want other people to be caged by this if I have to. But fate is not that nice. It never is."

"The first time I got 'possessed' by a Youkai, it drained my energy and made me passed out at inappropriate times. I lost a couple of days on my first school and it's a bad experience all over," Hanae nervously chuckled, "it's a mess. And at that time, I wished I never step into this supernatural being. Figuratively and literally."

"I've been called a liar in all of my life. Kids hated me, my classmates bullied me, and my foster parents never believed in me. I've learned from a very young age how to shut my mouth. How to lie and cheat. How to hide my emotion and put on a mask," Takashi stared at the camera, face blank, "I'm sorry Shigeru-san, Touko-san. I just...don't want to worry you whenever I came home with dirty clothes or wounds all over my body."

But, just like real life, there's always a good thing. Good thing, that will welcome you with a big smile and hands wide open.

"Then I've met Tony and his kids. You should see how happy they were playing with these Being," Clint snorted, "Ghost or Youkai, they were all human. Well, have a human emotion in a case for some of them. I misunderstand them all this time and I planned to rectify that."

"Hua-Po is my first Youkai. She's nice and friendly. Sarcastic at times and I love her so much," the small fairy on his shoulder blushed madly, Peter laughed, "she told me a lot of things and, even if she's not as cuddly as my aunt, she was always there to accompany me through my bad days."

"I've met a lot of friends as my time as a Shinigami. They taught me how to harness my power and wield my blade," Ichigo's scowl lessened, his expression relaxed, "I'm grateful to them because with this, I can protect those who I hold dear."

"It's not like I don't appreciate Sam and Tucker. But they're human. _We_ are human. And as a human, we need our rest," Danny grinned, "I'm glad that I've met a lot of nice Youkai on my patrol. They offered to lend me a hand in protecting the place if I have an exam the next day or when I'm too tired to change into my ghost form."

"My superior had been trying to make me socialized with other humans. I don't understand at that time. Human has their own protector, why should I lend a hand to them myself? To those who called me a liar or a jester?" Haruitsuki huffed, a slight chuckle escaped his lips "but then I met Hanae. And he told me 'if nice Youkais exists, then nice Humans must've existed too. Because we are all living beings. We all have our own set of emotions.'"

"I'm still afraid of Ghost, honestly. But it's not that bad! Fuzzy? The one who possessed me before is my friend now and he's so cute! I wished you can see him," Hanae beamed when Fuzzy nuzzled his cheek, "and yes, there are scary Youkai out there but the nice ones are super nice. Please, don't be afraid of them. Just like the animals, they won't attack if you don't corner them!"

"I always thought that Youkais are bad. They won't stop chasing me, hurt me, or prank me just for their own amusement. But then I met my 'friend'," Natsume smiled as he tightened his hold on Nyanko's tummy, "and I met Nyanko-sensei. They taught me how to 'talk'. How to not be awkward around other people. Humans and Youkais, both of them are all my friends and I will protect them no matter what."

"So for those who cannot See, you don't have to be worried. Because they won't disturb you as long as you don't _accidentally _disturb them," Tony declared, his smirk plastered with confidence, "and for those who can See but doesn't have anyone to tell to, don't hesitate to call us. Because you're not alone."

_"Never alone."_

And the media?

The media couldn't really find it in themselves to protest after that.

* * *

**Omake**

Tony Stark in a white spacesuit cursed like a sailor when the device teleported him to his own lab. _What?_ There's no stone in here, this stupid thing had teleported him to the wrong time! They already failed their first mission because fucking Loki stole the Tesseract, he could not fail this one either! And where the hell is Steve? Was the billionaire the only one who got sent to a different place? This time travel whatchamacallit is so fucking confusing—

"Mr. Stark?" his shoulders tensed when a voice reached his hearing. _This…this voice_, he slowly turned. Eyes wide and heart thumping. He didn't want to hope but hope he did—Peter stood in front of the lab door, yawning and rubbing his eye, he was sleepy, "what are you doing here? I thought Touko-san asked you to sleep early? She won't be pleased, you know. You already get scolded because of the Infinity War debacle and all, Aunt May is going to slap you this time.

_It's true….it's TRUE!_

_Petey…Petey was…is…_

_PETEY IS ALIVE!_

"Mr. Stark?" the brown-haired kid approached, concern glazed on his glassy orbs _(glassy but alive. Glassy but HERE)_, "are you okay? You look…pale."

Tony could not hold it anymore. Seeing his face, listening to his breath and feeling the warmth. He could not, he could not—he—

GRAB

He hugged him.

"I'm sorry," Tony started. Tears sprung up from behind his lids, hiccups tore his dry throat. His knee felt weak, and he was sure the Spider-Man's strength was the only thing that kept him uproot right now. He didn't even realize other kids have arrived after Peter asked JARVIS to inform them, too caught off over the fact that _Petey is here and I can redeem my sin now oh my God—_, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry you have to experience those horrible things. I'm sorry, Petey. I'm sorry."

.

.

"_I'm so, _so _sorry…"_

* * *

"Here it is, Tony. A Space Stone. Mistress said you can destroy it when you're done with it. Our universe don't need it anymore and the timeline won't shift even if you don't return it. At least, not to a disaster one," Danny said, offering the stone he plucked after he retrieved the gauntlet from his castle.

Tony, who was mentally exhausted and was now smushed between warm cuddle of the children and warm coffee between his palm, accepted it weakly. He pocketed the blue stone into the suit safe compartment and he looked up, staring at the face of people he doesn't know—besides Peter and Harley—yet was worried towards his health anyway. Maybe crying until his head ached and his eyes puffed was not a good idea after all, "t-thank you, Fenton."

"Oh, dang! Just called me Danny! Hearing you use my last name give me heebie-jeebies!" the halfa shivered, causing Tony to chuckle.

"Call us with our given name too, Tony," Ichigo rumbled, "just because you're not _our_ Tony, doesn't mean you're not _the_ Tony we know."

"Yeah. You're just as crybaby as _our _Tony."

"Harley! Tone down the sarcasm!"

"Oh, sorry Peter. He's just as crybaby as our Hanae."

"_Hidoi mo, _Harley! What have I done to you?"

"He's not wrong though…"

"Abeno-san, you're cruel!"

"Danny, we really need to tone down our sarcastic battle one of these days. I don't want to give them any more ammunition in their arsenal."

"Agreed, Takashi."

"Besides Hanae, you are all a menace. Seriously…"

Tony watched with fond amusement as they started to squabble. The cat joined in on it when they started to shifted their attention to the Platinum Blonde teen, not wanting to miss the chance in making fun of him (he was apprehensive when they told him the origin of how they've met—Ghost and Youkai? Shinigami? Preposterous!—but then Danny turned into his ghost form and the cat _started to talk!_ He may not have the Sight to see the Invisible beings inside the lab, nor he could see Ichigo's spiritual form. Yet those pieces of evidence were enough for him to _believe _them). His eyes cast downward, sight going misty. Tony could feel…jealousy bloom within his heart. _This_ Tony was…lucky. To be surrounded by these charming kids. To be loved and cared. A world where _someone_—other than his oldest friends, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy—will miss him if he disappears. A beautiful world.

_(World that I'm not part of)_

SLAP

"Ow!" Tony caressed his abused head and glared at Takashi, "what was that for?"

"I can _hear_ you thinking about some depressing thoughts. Stop it," Takashi countered that glare with his own, Tony wilted, "we're tired because of the war yesterday morning and the interview this afternoon, we don't need a negative vibe to contaminate it even further."

"O-Okay."

_This kid is scary!_

"Sir, we've managed to…_acquire_ the Pym Particle from Lang's Ant-Man Suit" ("acquire? Pft…right. He _definitely _stole them" Harley snickered). The lab door opened and a red tube flew in midair. It wobbled a bit, but held strong as the thing plopped itself to Tony's palm, he clumsily shoved the coffee mug to Peter.

"Thank you…JARVIS," _JARVIS is alive here. Oh gosh, JARVIS is alive—_

"Don't mention it, sir," the A.I blipped, "you should also thank Ms. Hua-Po for accepting this 'fetch' quest."

Tony stared forward—he didn't know if the Youkai was there or she already flew to the other side. He just nodded—and gave a shaky smile, "thank you, Ms. Hua-po."

He swore he heard a ringing of a beautiful bell just now.

"I…have to go now," (he didn't want to. He really didn't. He wants to stay here and be safe within this circle. He wants to stay in this warmness. But he couldn't. Because he has his _own_ Pepper. He has his _own_ daughter. They're not as warm as these strangers. But he could not leave his bonfire of life alone, no matter how small it was) Tony stood and gave them a small grin, "thank you for the hospitality. And give my regards to my alternate self, 'kay?"

Hanae suddenly sniffed, loudly. Before he shouted, "GROUP HUG!" and tackled him without warning, he almost fell on his bum.

_"GROUP HUG!"_

And…he was back within the children's embrace. Dum-E and Butterfingers joined in as well, even the disgruntled Ichigo and the uninterested Haruitsuki.

"Please, take care of yourself, Tony," Peter mumbled amidst the commotion, "don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Tony was stunned for a split second, still not used to this open display of affection. Before he tightened his hug on Hanae's figure and he sobbed. He cried for the nth times on the crook of his neck, tears dampening the pajamas. _Ah. _

_They really _are_ warm._

When Tony—_their_ Tony—arrived to check on them (it's late. Where are they? They should be sleeping right about now), he was met with a scene of two of his kids crying—Hanae and Peter, as always—while the other tried to comfort them. The Brunette wanted to ask. But one shake of the head from Ichigo halted his question and he simply offered if they want a midnight Pizza snack and a movie marathon to kill the time.

Hidden from their sight, a lone black feather fell.

* * *

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Epilog**

Tony watched from the sky, melancholy washed over his entire being as he gazed at the funeral below. 40 years had passed since the Infinity War. His cute, small, lovable kids he unofficially adopted—even his own cute daughter—are all grown up and have their own family to take care of. Their visit didn't diminish even a small bit. They actually brought their whole family whenever they could, using the Mononokean as always, and wearing the Glasses for those who cannot See. Their attitude stayed mostly the same—Takashi is still scary. Haruitsuki is boring with a bit of mischievousness at particular times. Hanae is still a crybaby. Ichigo's scowl still there, albeit not so deep. Danny is sarcastic. Peter is playful. And Harley is the evillest of them all—he didn't feel like any time had passed and he was stuck in a time loop of love.

But that was just his imagination. He's 89 and dead. His family cried over his passing and he felt bad for leaving Pepper alone. He hoped she'll move to Morgan's family house so she doesn't feel _too_ lonely.

"**You don't want to say goodbye to them?" **Mistress asked, she wrapped her bony arms around his neck _like always. Like before_, **"we still have time before I sent you to the afterlife."**

Tony shook his head, "Nah. I already told them not to search for me when my time comes. It's never good to dwell on past too much," he turned towards the Goddess and pouted, "but 89, Mistress? Really? At least let me live till 100. No, at least let me even the numbers to 90!"

"**This is the consequences of your underage drinking, Tony," **she giggled carelessly, **"be grateful that you're stubborn enough to live until they have their own children to boast."**

"Ha. You're right. I'm satisfied anyway, to be able to see my grandchildren," they started to float, away from the mourning family, away from the plane of the living. Tony curled his fingers around hers, a serene smile plastered on his wrinkly face, "honestly, tho'. With that twisted love of yours, I thought you're going to let me die in a spectacular way. Getting into a car accident or get mauled by a supervillain or something. Not this…peaceful and cliché one. Getting old and surrounded by my precious people and all..."

"**I told you I'll be the judge of your death, aren't I?" **Mistress hummed. He felt his grasp on the form of his body getting weaker. The unseeing figure turned transparent even more, the dark light of the Goddess of Death enveloping them both. Before his soul was completely disappeared from the Earth—_from his home_—however, he heard Mistress whispered. Fond and full of compassion, Tony's heart lightened.

.

"_**And this peaceful and cliché death**** is your perfect ending, Anthony Edward Stark."**_

* * *

**(A/N): ***I'm imagining Akashi Seijuuro as I wrote that. Like, seriously. They have the same voice actor anyway. Of course, Natsume is going to have Akashi's personality in it #plak #lol :'D

**It's not that clear but the reason why Mononokean was there, near the reporter booth, was because Takashi used that to called his Youkai to the battlefield. I don't know where to put this explanation in a story, so here it is :'D

***After the war, Tony offered to fetch the worried parents to the Stark Tower. He could not send them home for now because they have to attend an interview tomorrow morning. They're still in the tower when the scene of Alternate-Tony-appeared happened.

****It took three to four years for society to finally accept that yes, Youkai is real. Everyone doesn't feel weird looking at People-Who-Can-See talking with 'themselves' anymore. Some of those people who bullied Takashi phoned him and asked for his forgiveness. Kitamoto and Nishimura were mad at him for hiding this fact from them, however.

.

.

And this, is the end of "Tony Stark Adopted Ghost-Sensitive Child"! Yaaayy! XD

I may create short chapters regarding the ideas I scrapped (Natsume Yuujincho and Fukigen na Mononokean are a must. But Bleach and Danny Phantom are not. So I have…five animes that I threw away because I thought the 'children' there doesn't seem compatible for the story) but it'll be a long while. Or maybe I'll not create that side story at all because I was too busy with my other fanfic (When that happen, I'm going to post my draft so you know what anime I intended to include in this story `3`)

The thing is, don't get your hope up. And remember, that the _MAIN_ story is already over. So yay! A celebration! XD


End file.
